Immersive Media Technology: VR, AR and Mixed Reality

Introduction

Virtual Reality (VR) was first introduced at 1989 by Jarron Lanier, but the definition of it was unclear until 1992, as Steuer, Biocca, and Levy explained in 1995. VR is similar to other types of media in that it delivers human created experiences, but according to the paper of Steuer, Biocca, and Levy, VR is the only media that provide interactive experiences.

For example, if you just watch a movie with Oculus Rift, then it is hard to say that the experience is VR, but if the views or images of the movie are changed by any type of your act, then this interactive feature differentiates the experiences as a VR. Televisions are not considered VR in general, but one of the recent trends is second screen viewing where people can express their responses to live programs and their responses have influences on the program's future directions such as TV shows with votes like American Idol. In this case, we can say that these types of TV shows are considered VR, though some people may believe that whether the settings of these shows are virtual and artificial or real is arguable. I would bet that reality shows like this type can be considered VR that are presented by real individuals because they behave in an artificial setting.